Leah Williams is out to change lives, one bare foot at a time.
That’s why Leah, who has been a WPO member since the fall of 2021, established The Barefoot Trail Foundation in April 2022.
The foundation’s first trail is a one-mile adventure and reflexology walk through the woods in Flagstaff, Arizona. Opened in July 2024, the trail is carefully manicured daily to remove sticks and rocks to allow for carefree barefoot walking and includes 35 different adventure stations and reflexology segments along the way.
“I want to see kids happier. They need to be more healthy, and we can do that for them. We can provide spaces for them where they can move their bodies, have fun and integrate with nature,” she says.
In its first three-month season, the trail attracted around 6 200 visitors. In the first 11 weeks of the 2025 summer, the park has already received 12 000 visitors, and Leah is anticipating up to 25 000 over the full summer.
But opening a nature experience was not how Leah started out in business, or in the WPO. When she joined WPO she co-owned Phoenix-based heating and air-conditioning company SG Mechanical Air.
“WPO feels like my own personal board of directors, this group of women who are incredibly intelligent, capable and experienced, and I really, really benefit from their mentorship,” she says.
It took one meeting of the Phoenix chapter to convince Leah. “I decided to join because of the warm, friendly women that I met, but also the very capable discussions that we had that we were a part of in that first meeting. It really impressed me.”
“I have enjoyed some wonderful friendships through WPO. At certain revenue levels, it is difficult to talk with every friend that you have about the challenges you experience at work. I can’t call my mom and say, ‘Hey, Mom, how do I work through this?’”
It was while living in The Netherlands that Leah first experienced a “barefoot park”. Her three children went to one in Belgium on a school outing and came back so enthused that she decided to visit it again with them.
“I loved it, clearly,” she says.
Back in the US, Leah decided to look for suitable land so that she could open something similar. At the time, she was also working at the air-conditioning company. She was drawn into that company while working at a law firm. She was asked to help set up office systems and processes at SG Mechanical Air. Her soon-to-be co-owner later offered Leah a 20% share.
“I learned a very valuable lesson early on in my career, when I started at a law firm: never take the initial offer. You have to fight for yourself.”
Leah pointed out that her ideas had helped SG Mechanical Air quadruple in size. The offer was upped to 40%, and later Leah bought another 10%.
While still at the air-conditioning company, Leah embarked on a two-year search for a suitable piece of land for her first barefoot trail. She settled on the Flagstaff park, which lies at an elevation of approximately 7 000ft and is surrounded by the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest in North America.
“Just seeing trees, smelling pine trees, actually decreases the stress hormone cortisol … There’s so much science behind it, but we’ve just made it simple and fun where people don’t even have to think about it.”
That first summer’s success led Leah to sell her share of the air-conditioning business back to her co-owner in order to put her all into the new business. She wants to expand the foundation and says she’s already had “interesting discussions” on expanding the business to other places.
“A goal of the foundation is to have more parks or to support other people who want to build parks. Maybe we’ll do some licensing or co-branding, but certainly I would like to build more of them and I’d love to be a part of that process.”
Leah’s entrepreneurship is fueled by passion and backed by a Master of Business Administration degree from Grand Canyon University — and the camaraderie she has found through WPO.
The organization provides a network of different kinds of businesses, nationally and even internationally, she says. It also offers members the benefit of being able to share your and other women's experiences in entrepreneurship. It offers courage and invaluable, empathetic guidance.
“There’s all different types of journeys that we can share with each other and learn from. It’s a real mentorship and there’s an incredible amount of knowledge and experience to share to help us move along our business journey.”
Launching The Barefoot Trail Foundation is also nostalgic. Leah grew up one of five siblings who ran about barefoot on a large property in Seattle, Washington. Leah’s mother came to the US from Germany in the 1950s, after the devastation of World War II, and brought with her a firm belief in an outdoorsy, barefoot childhood. It’s something Leah wants to pass on.
“Our world is so electronically focused, especially for our kids, that physical and mental health has deteriorated. Obesity rates are up and so are emotional health crises. We need to get back to activities that have physical and psychological benefits,” she says.
This is why she has made the foundation a non-profit under Section 501(c)(3) of the US Internal Revenue Code.
“I don’t think natural spaces, such as the land the park uses, should be for-profit. It’s really a stewardship that I have and I think it should be used for the general public and for our communities and we should share it.”
The profit the park makes will be ploughed back into the foundation, so that it can grow and encourage more and more people to get out into nature, Leah says.